Although there are political rallies and meetings, the town hall meeting is an opportunity for elected politicians or candidates to state their positions, then answer questions – whatever the subject - from whoever is in attendance. The first town hall meeting I attended was in Sudbury, Massachusetts the cradle of American democracy.
I was pleasantly surprised and pleased to get a call from Sonia Williams inviting me to attend a town hall meeting last Thursday. There was a good turnout and the meeting was taped for anyone to see it. (Go to myccmparty.com).
After the introductions and presentations of the CCM platform, the microphone was open to anyone with a question. Democracy at its best! I would hope that the NRP would offer the same opportunities.
Questions ranged from gun control to monkey control to the lack of traffic at our airport, and included the problems our local farmers have. Answers were provided by the CCM representatives: Alexis Jeffers suggested that monkey sterilization could be a viable solution to that problem.
Mark Brantley recommended that Customs not focus exclusively on, but broaden its mission to national security to include stopping illegal trafficking in guns.
Vance Amory, Keith Scarborough and Mark Brantley said that the problem with lack of flights at the airport was that agreements with airlines were not pursued. This means anyone traveling internationally (except for St Maarten) must go through St Kitts. This resulted in a guaranteed source of traffic for the Sea Bridge, and profits for its investors. It also has had serious effects on our taxi drivers, some of whom have had to sell their vehicles.
Vance Amory responded to questions about the high cost of living - the 17% VAT, the surcharge on electricity and the amount of debt this NRP administration will leave Nevis with. He also mentioned that many Nevisians are selling their homes and leaving for a better economic climate.
In spite of the recent agreements with various international organizations to restructure and forgive certain amounts of debt, the growth in debt under this administration has been astonishing, and I believe that Nevisians are smarter than to allow this current administration to continue in office after July.
